Sunday, September 04, 2005

The New York Jets aka Mick Foley

Mick Foley was a tough SOB. He’s a legend in wrestling for devoting his body to sports entertainment. He wasn’t physically gifted in anyway. He wasn’t big, or particularly strong. In fact, there was really no reason for him to ever be a successful wrestler. He succeeded by doing what the other wrestlers would not. He jumped off twenty foot steel cages. He allowed the Rock to beat him mercilessly in the head with a steel chair with his arms tied behind his back. He played multiple characters including Dude Love, Cactus Jack, and Mankind. Foley’s status in wrestling constantly changed with the characters he played. One week Foley could be in a title match while the next week he could be placed on the backburner.

The Jets epitomize Mick Foley in many regards. They aren’t the most gifted team offensively or defensively yet they continue to win. They don’t have any superstars unless you want to count Curtis Martin. The Jets are tough and stubborn. Herm Edwards has done an outstanding job leading this team. Like Foley, they’ve had multiple personalities. They beat the Colts in the playoffs three years ago 41-0. They came back the next week and got smoked by Oakland 30-10. The Jets haven’t been consistently dominating and I think that’s partially because they aren’t a dominating football team. They have to play perfectly to beat the good teams. Last season presented a new problem for the Jets. They couldn’t beat the good teams on the schedule. The Jets went 11-7 last season. The Jets beat Cincy, Miami, San Francisco, Cleveland, Arizona, Houston, and Buffalo. They lost to New England (2), Pittsburgh (2), and Baltimore. The Jets proved last year that it’s possible to make the playoffs by beating the bad teams but you’re not going to get much further than the first round.

The Jets are boring on offense. Chad Pennington is an accurate passer who’s capable of having big games. His receiving corps isn’t very accommodating. The Jets traded Santana Moss for Lavaranues Coles which pretty much puts them in the same position as they were last year. Justin McCareins is average but beyond that, there’s Wayne “I might be French but I might not be” Chrebet and Johnathan Carter. The running game will be solid with Curtis Martin but the loss of Lamont Jordan will be noticeable. Jordan and Martin provided a unique 1-2 punch last season that allowed both players to remain fresh. For some teams, a running back by committee works best and I think that was the case for the Jets. The offensive line is pretty good so Martin will get his yards. However, the Jets struggle immensely against good defenses. If they scored 14 points in two games against New England last year. They scored 23 points in two games against Pittsburgh. The Jets won’t win anything until they become more dynamic on offense.

The defense was stout last year. The Jets were in just about every game that they lost because of their defense. They only gave up 16 points per game and less than 100 yards rushing. The Jets must be confident in their backups because they let go more than a few key contributors on defense. Jason Ferguson, Donnie Abraham, Sam Cowart, and Reggie Tongue are gone from last years defense. The Jets did bring in Ty Law but that merely offsets the loss of Abraham. DeWayne Robertson, John Abraham, and Shaun Ellis form a good defensive front. Johnathan Vilma is becoming a superstar at linebacker and Victor Hobson has improved immensely. The secondary could be very good depending on how Law has recovered from his injury. I don’t think the defense will be as good as last years which is bad news for the Jets.

Are the Jets going to be Dude Love or Mankind?

The Jets are a good football team. They made the playoffs last year but beating up on the sisters of the poor. They won’t be able to do the same thing this year as the schedule is much tougher. They play New England, Buffalo, and Miami two times. They could go 4-2 there but I’ll give them 3-3. They matchup against the NFC South which could be the difference in the Jets not making the playoffs. New Orleans, Tampa Bay, Atlanta, and Carolina are all good teams. The Jets probably won’t do any better than 2-2 against those teams. They’re also matched up against the AFC West which is another difficult division. I don’t see the Jets doing any better than 2-2 against KC, SD, Oak, and Denver. That leaves Baltimore and Jacksonville. They’ll probably split those two games.

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